


Underground

by caffeinatedgiraffe



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games (Movies)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Annie Cresta-centric, Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Finnick Odair-centric, Finnick lives in this one y'all, Finnick's pov, Fix-It, I just want them to be happy okay?, Major Character Undeath, My First Work in This Fandom, Odesta, One Shot, One True Pairing, Please lower your expectations, Post-Canon, Post-Mockingjay, Timeline What Timeline, buckle up we goin for a ride, plot holes everywhere
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-11
Updated: 2019-10-11
Packaged: 2020-12-07 22:35:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20983508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caffeinatedgiraffe/pseuds/caffeinatedgiraffe
Summary: A one-shot chronicling Finnick Odair's final moments - and beyond.





	Underground

It was time to move again.

Finnick woke easily when some of his comrades began to stir and gave a loud yawn, cracking his neck from side to side in an attempt to alleviate some of the stiffness from sleeping in cramped conditions. His eyes had finally adjusted to the near pitch black darkness of the tunnels after the squad was forced to move underground, but he couldn’t shake that smothering, claustrophobic feeling; That feeling that the walls and the ceiling were slowly closing in on him, trapping him down here in this damp labyrinth for the rest of eternity. It didn’t help that the air down here was thick and stagnant, like a heavy, suffocating blanket. He was very aware of each and every breath, which felt increasingly shallow and labored the longer they were down here.

He gave a shudder. He’d never liked small spaces – or the dark, for that matter.  _ Ladies and gentlemen...Finnick Odair, District 4 warrior and Victor of the 65 _ _ th _ _ Hunger Games, is afraid of the dark! _ He narrated to himself wryly and stood to help wake the rest of his fellow soldiers in Squad 451, giving his trident an experimental twirl. He was careful not to stand too quickly, lest he hit his head on the low ceiling of the corridor they were currently camped out in. He wouldn’t be much use if he was concussed.

“Wakey, wakey, sunshine...” He sang softly to the closest person, who swatted at him like they were trying to shoo away an annoying insect.

“Shut it, Odair,” Homes piped up then, though Finnick noted he was smiling, which only encouraged him more.

“Oh, I see. You’re just jealous of this angelic voice. Or perhaps you’d like a different song? A traditional District Four sea shanty, perhaps? Castor, be sure to get this on camera-”

There was a chorus of groans all around him and Finnick laughed.

“No? Tough crowd. All right then, perhaps another time...”

This was Finnick’s default during stressful or tense situations. His sense of humor was a coping mechanism he’d spent years perfecting as a slave to the Capitol, where all his control and freedom had been stripped away from him the moment he’d become a Victor of the Hunger Games. The easy smiles and the jokes were all part of the persona he put on to help him survive, yes; But it was also every bit a part of the real Finnick. Snow could take away many things (and God knew he already had), but he couldn’t take away this gift of laughter away from him.

Besides, he needed something to help distract him from both the literal and figurative darkness that threatened to consume him at almost every turn. Even more than his fear of the actual dark, he was reminded how very out of control he was in this situation, having to rely completely on someone else to lead them through the underground tunnels, were surely more traps were snares were waiting for them. He didn’t handle that out-of-control feeling well. It reminded him of when Annie had been in the Arena during her Games, fighting for her own life...He could train her and get all the sponsors in the world to help her survive, and he had – but in the end, he had very much not been in control of her fate. And then when she’d been captured and held prisoner in the Capitol along with Johanna and Peeta, that overwhelming sense of helplessness had nearly driven him mad…

But it was that very same feeling that motivated him to keep going. It was why this mission was so important; Why he’d allied with Katniss and Peeta during the Quarter Quell and decided to join the Rebellion in the first place. They were all fighting for something. They’d all suffered great losses. For Finnick it wasn’t just his own personal freedom he was fighting for, however – but his freedom to love the person he had  _ chosen _ to be with. He was fighting for his freedom to love Annie.

Snow was just going to keep taking and taking and  _ taking _ unless someone stopped him.

He had been unsurprised by Katniss’ earlier confession that her plan had been to split away from the rest of the unit and assassinate Snow herself. He’d been anticipating it, even. And he was going to do everything in his power to help her reach that goal - even it meant paying the ultimate price as so many in their squad already had. Boggs. Leeg 2. Mitchell. Messalla. Their sacrifices had to mean something – as did the sacrifices of the countless other people that had lost their lives for the sake of the Rebellion so far – and the ones yet to fall before this war was over. 

Failure was not an option for Finnick.

* * *

The rest period ended quite abruptly.

Finnick didn’t think much of the hissing noises at first – he assumed it was just the water dripping or steam escaping from the pipes. But then the hissing grew louder. And closer.

The next thing he knew, Peeta was shouting at Katniss and she drew her bow on him, aiming an arrow right between his eyes.

Finnick immediately jumped to action, placing himself between them for not the first time during this mission. Snow had done a number on Peeta while he’d been a prisoner in the Capitol, and though he was slowly getting better, the effects of the hijacking on his mind still caused him to become confused at time, viewing Katniss as a threat.

This was not one of those times though. He was warning her.

“Mutts! They released mutts! We have to go now!” He yelled, his eyes wide with fear and urgency.

Shit. Snow must have found out they had gone underground, and now they were being hunted. Again.

Well if they weren’t awake before, they were now. Their guide, Pollux, began to lead the group through increasingly dark and narrow passageways to find the closest exit. Finnick muttered curses under his breath. He could barely make out the shape of the person in front of him. Occasionally Gale released a flaming arrow from his crossbow to light the path ahead - but aside from that it was quite literally the blind leading the blind.

They were forced at times to crawl one at a time on hands and needs to make it to the next section of tunnels on their escape route. All the while that hissing chant grew closer. The mutts might be looking for Katniss, but Finnick didn’t doubt that they would kill anyone who got between them and the job they’d been programmed for.

...

Jackson and Leeg 1 tried to hold them off for as long as they could to buy some time for the rest of the group to escape - but they were quickly overtaken. Homes and Castor fell next, their screams of agony echoing through the tunnels as the mutts tore into them.

“Shit! Go, go, go!” Someone screamed, though no one really needed the encouragement. The group sprinted through the tunnels now, simultaneously launching an offensive strike against their predators. Katniss released some of her incendiary arrows and the echoes of gunshots reverberated in their ears. Finnick fired off several rounds from his pistol, though it didn’t seem to make much of an impact. The mutts were pouring in from every side now, and soon they would be trapped down here with them...

Finnick had encountered mutts in the Arena before - during his own Games as well as in the Quarter Quell. But these - these were like nothing he’d ever seen before. The Gamemakers had truly outdone themselves. These mutts were taller than the average man and skeletal - with slimy, white, translucent skin - and long, lizard-like tails. And they were fast. Too fast.

The dwindling party managed to fight their way into a new section of the tunnels - and there in the center of this dimly lit room was a platform with a tunnel leading out of this underground Arena. That was their escape. However, by now the lizard mutts were right on top of them and they were quickly surrounded. There was nothing to do now but fight.

Finnick barely managed to fight one off before the next mutt launched itself at him, screeching and snarling as its sharp teeth sought to rip his throat out. Finnick screamed back, then drove his trident clean through his target. Again. And again. He picked them off one by one...but it wasn’t enough. They just kept coming...And coming...With no end in sight. Not until they got what they came for. And Finnick couldn’t let that happen.

Somehow in the midst of his fighting he managed to catch a glimpse of one of his comrades. They were engaged in a struggle with one of the mutts - and were quickly losing. The mutt was on top of them, teeth gnashing dangerously close to their face...Finnick’s stomach sank. It was Katniss. 

He didn’t think twice. He elbowed the lizard mutt currently attacking him in the face to stun it and then took a flying leap towards his friend - and drove his trident straight through the mutt’s chest, flinging it aside with a guttural cry. “Katniss! Go!” He yelled as he repeated the action with one, two, three more mutts, giving her a chance to escape. The rest of the squad had managed to fight their way to the platform and up the ladder and it was just he and Katniss left now. 

Katniss hastily made her way to the platform and started to climb up the ladder - but then a mutt suddenly came flying towards her, aiming to pull her back down into the depths. Once again, Finnick did what he had to do, without hesitation. He launched his trident and it spiraled through the air towards its target, becoming a spear. It worked. The creature fell with a scream, and Katniss continued to climb up the ladder to her safety.

That left Finnick underground to fend for himself, unarmed except for a small knife. His pistol had long since been knocked out of his hand, and his trident was well out of reach, hidden by the murky, standing water. The odds were stacked heavily against him, and he knew it. But still he fought, despite that terrible, sinking feeling in his gut that told him this was the end for him. Because that’s what he’d always done. He fought, no matter how small the chances of survival were. 

For a brief moment, he tasted freedom. He pulled himself up onto the platform and grabbed hold of the ladder with one hand, then two - but then he was forcibly yanked back down as a mutt grabbed hold of him, and Finnick fell back, his head hitting something on the way down and disorienting him as he landed on his back in the water. 

Finnick’s agonized screams filled the chambers as the mutts overcame him and tore him open. “Katniss!” He called out desperately, his mouth quickly filling with blood. “Katniss! Please!” He gurgled, urging her to end it. It was becoming increasingly difficult to speak and his vision was becoming spotty.

Finnick had always pictured his final moments going quite differently. That he might say something profound or more meaningful. That his last thoughts would be of Annie as he pictured her sweet face before death took him... But instead, as he laid there being dismembered by the lizard mutts, the only thought he was seemingly capable of was  _ End it. Please, God. Make it stop. _ His final words were instead to beg for mercy, which took every last ounce of strength he had left.

Mercy came in the form of a flash of searing, white-hot light, accompanied by face-melting heat as Katniss detonated the Holo and dropped it down into the tunnel to end his suffering. 

And then nothingness. 

* * *

Finnick woke in a cold sweat to the sounds of his own screaming, thrashing wildly in his bed and becoming tangled in the sheets.

“Finnick...Finnick! It’s okay. You’re okay. I’m right here...” A gentle yet firm voice called out to him, but it sounded distant and though he tried to grasp at it, he couldn’t quite reach it. He was still in that confusing, in-between place where the line between true wakefulness and sleep were blurred. His body felt heavy and his head was so fuzzy...

“Finnick!” The voice called again as he mumbled a string of incoherent words, eyes still shut tightly as he fought off enemies that weren’t there.

Then a pair of thin but strong arms wrapped around him and he went still, his eyes slowly fluttering open. His vision was blurry but he could still make out a pair of deep green eyes staring back at him, a mirror of his own.

“Annie?” He rasped in confusion, realizing he could barely speak, and tried to sit up, only to be met with resistance which he was much too weak to try to fight.

“Shhh...” She pressed a cold hand against his forehead and he exhaled in relief at the welcome sensation. He felt so hot...He was burning...Wait. Burning...The explosion...How was he still alive?  _ Was  _ he still alive _ ?  _ Perhaps this was the afterlife - But no...That wasn’t right either. Annie shouldn’t be here, with him. She was supposed to live a long, happy life...

“Annie-” He started, feeling panic begin to rise in his chest.

“Shhh,” she shushed him again as she wiped the sweat from his forehead with a cool, damp cloth. “You’re okay. You were having another fever dream,” she explained. “You’re okay,” she repeated.

Fever dream? He was sick. Well, that explained why he felt so miserable... 

“It was so real...I could feel them. The mutts-” He swallowed, grimacing from both the memory of the dream, and how raw and painful his throat felt. “It was so real…” He repeated. 

“I know,” Annie said gently. This was not the first time Finnick had had this same dream since returning home to District Four at the end of the war. Though this illness of his seemed to make the dreams much more vivid and more realistic. Some of the events he dreamed of had really happened - just not to him. Annie’s best guess was that he had heard the stories of how the Capitol had been taken, about Katniss and Squad 451, and was putting himself in those situations.

Finnick was quiet for a moment and he let his eyelids close as Annie hummed a song and held the cool cloth to his head. Then, inevitably, the questions came as memories came flooding back. Or were they memories? Finnick wasn’t so sure anymore. 

“But the Rebellion-” 

“Is over,” Annie replied. “We took the Capitol and Snow surrendered. He can’t hurt us anymore.”

Finnick’s eyes widened with sudden realization and he looked at Annie with a brand new fear and concern. “Oh, God! They had you. Are you okay? Did they hurt you? I’m sorry Annie, I’m sorry I couldn’t be there to stop them or protect you-” He said and a sob escaped his throat then.

“Finnick, I’m fine. I was never a prisoner. I was safe in District 13, just like you’d arranged. You anticipated they might try to take some prisoners before you went into the Quarter Quell, if things went as planned, but-” Annie bit her lip. 

Finnick frowned. “What? What is it?” He searched her face, finding a pained expression and sad eyes. 

“They captured you, Finnick. After the Quarter Quell. With Johanna and Peeta...You don’t remember?”

Finnick’s frown deepened and he shut his eyes tightly, trying to will his brain to fill in all the holes, but everything was so jumbled together in his current state. He wasn’t sure what was real anymore versus a dream versus a true memory. 

“It’s ok, Finnick. The doctors said this is to be expected, after everything you went through while you were a prisoner. The torture…” She swallowed, her voice catching in her throat. When the prisoners had been rescued, Finnick had been in such bad shape, both physically and psychologically...His mind hadn’t been hijacked like Peeta’s, but in no way had he or Johanna escaped from their time as prisoners without their own scars.

Finnick sensed her upset and opened his eyes, guilt settling over his features. “I’m sorry, Annie...You shouldn’t have to deal with this. I should be the one taking care of you…”

Annie shook her head, cutting him off before he could say another word of that nonsense. 

“You’ve always taken care of me. When everyone else just pitied or feared poor, mad Crazy Cresta, you stayed by my side. You kept me grounded in reality. And now it’s time for me to return the favor.” She offered him a gentle smile and pressed a kiss to the top of his head.

“So if you’re not sure, just ask.” 

“...Ask? Ask what?” Finnick frowned, not following her train of thought at first.

“Ask me what’s real. Like I’ve always done with you,” she answered patiently, giving him time to remember.

It took him a moment, but eventually he did remember. Yes. Of course. A smile, albeit a weak one, tugged at the corners of his lips and he just looked at Annie for a moment, marveling at the way her dark, auburn hair cascaded around her shoulders and how she seemed to grow even more beautiful with age. Her skin glowed more radiantly than he’d ever remembered and there was a certain peace about her that he wasn’t sure he’d ever seen before...

Wait.

That train of thought triggered something in him and sat up suddenly in his bed, drawing another concerned look from Annie. “Finnick, what-”

“Annie,” he said excitedly, cutting her off and taking her hands in his. “Annie, you’re pregnant...Right? Real or not real?” His eyes were hopeful and he fought back happy tears, not allowing himself to fully celebrate until he knew for certain that this wasn’t another false memory or fever dream.  _ Please let it be real. Please let it be real. _

“Real,” Annie nodded, beaming. “Definitely real.” 

Finnick released a joyful sob and pulled Annie closer to him, burying his face in her hair.

Yes. Yes, he remembered now. The wedding in District 13 after he and the other prisoners had been rescued. He and Annie hadn’t wanted to delay any longer. Not when the future was so uncertain...It had been a small, intimate ceremony. Finnick hadn’t been well enough for anything bigger.

And when the war had ended, they’d moved back to District Four and that’s when Annie had shared the news with him. 

“You know, we never even went on a proper honeymoon…” Annie murmured then as she ran her fingers lightly through his bronze hair. “We better get on that, before the baby comes. Or we might never go.”

Finnick laughed. “Yes. Yes! Let’s go right now. Let’s-” A coughing fit wracked his entire body then and Annie extracted herself from him and handed him a glass of water.

He took a sip of water and then collapsed back against the pillows, seemingly spent from the coughing fit. 

“Okay. Maybe not  _ right _ this second,” he conceded with weak smile. 

Annie gave him a knowing look and chuckled.

“But the moment I’m feeling better. A proper honeymoon.” He gave a decisive nod.

“Sounds like a plan,” Annie agreed, taking the glass of water from him when it seemed he was finished. 

“So you better get some rest now. The sooner you get better, the sooner we can make this plan happen.”

“Yes ma’am,” Finnick said with a mock serious expression, giving her a smart salute and then letting his hand fall heavily down to his side.

Annie crawled into bed next to Finnick and began humming an old lullaby as she stroked his hair until she heard his breathing change, indicating he’d fallen back asleep. 

And this time when Finnick Odair slept, he dreamed only of his future together with Annie - where the only kind of games they played were the ones they got to play with their children.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my very first foray into writing fanfic, so if you took the time to read this humble little piece, thank you!! (And possibly apologies? XD) Odesta is a ship very near and dear to my heart and I just wanted to give them BOTH the happy ending I felt they deserved. <3


End file.
